This article examines the (re)translation into English of Naguib Mahfouz’s 1959 novel Awlād Ḥāratinā as a socially-situated activity. Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of practice, it analyses retranslation as an intrusive, symbolically-violent act in relation to a text which itself triggered unfavourable reactions when it was published in Arabic and when it subsequently appeared in English (re)translation. Awlād Ḥāratinā stands out as one of the few allegorical fiction works written in Arabic, which offers a unique case for the study of retranslation. Through an analysis of the paratextual materials of the two available translations of Mahfouz’s novel (originally published in 1981 and 1996, respectively), this article identifies and critically examines the mechanisms of symbolic violence through which the translators, Philip Stewart and Peter Theroux, attempted to distinguish themselves and their works. The extent and intensity of the disputes between Stewart and Theroux also speak to this case study’s significance. The findings suggest that a Bourdieusian perspective can expand and enrich the understanding and theorising of retranslation. They also illustrate that retranslation is not an act of mere linguistic or stylistic improvement on previous efforts but is often an act of symbolic violence and a site for struggle through which differences between translatorial agents are created and maintained, primarily via the generation and leveraging of capital.
The Translator. (Published online first)
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13556509.2020.1751472This article examines the status of translation and interpretation as disciplines and professions in Zimbabwe. A critical appraisal of both past and present Zimbabwean language policy documents, triangulated with data from semi-structured interviews and observations, reveals that the two disciplines and professions are still in their formative stages despite their long history. It emerged that translation and interpretation are para-professions and are neither fully-fledged nor well-established disciplines. The lack of an enabling language policy seems to account for this underdevelopment, at least to some extent. The marginalisation of the majority of local languages thus appears to stifle and thwart efforts to promote the disciplinary and professional growth of both translation and interpretation in Zimbabwe. These observations suggest that language policy, translation, and interpretation in the Zimbabwean context have an intricate and symbiotic relationship; thus the lack of an enabling language policy environment both past and present constrains their development.
Language Matters, Studies in the Languages of Africa. Volume 51, 2020 - Issue 2
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10228195.2020.1773518This article seeks to examine how contemporary works of fiction and non-fiction by women from Cuba and Brazil are translated and marketed for Francophone readers. It will focus on Wendy Guerra’s novels, translated into French by Marianne Millon, and on contemporary Brazilian (non) fiction translated into French by Paula Anacaona, the head of Anacaona Éditions, a publishing outlet specialized in Brazilian literature for Francophone readers. The contribution will start with a brief presentation of the French publishing sector and some of the recurring patterns observed in what is often labeled as littérature étrangère or littérature monde (foreign literature and world literature, respectively), exploring various layers of intervention that appear in translated fiction. The article will then further explore the role of paratext in the marketing of Caribbean literatures for (non-)metropolitan French audiences, before it examines the translations of Todos se van and Domingo de Revolución by Cuban writer Wendy Guerra. Paratextual matter in Marianne Millon’s Tout le monde s’en va and Un dimanche de révolution will be analyzed as a site of feminine co-production, in which the author and the translator’s voices at times collide in unison and at others create dissonance. In the case of Domingo de revolución, the French translator’s practices will be compared to Cuban-American Achy Obejas’s English translation (Revolution Sunday), in the hope of highlighting varying degrees of cultural appropriation and/or acculturation, depending on the translator’s habitus and trajectory (Bourdieu) and her own background. These reflections will lead to a broader analysis of paratext as a site of further agency and potential redress as (Afro-) Brazilian history and literature are examined in works circulated by writer/translator/publisher Paula Anacaona. Ultimately, figures traditionally sidelined from hegemonic and patriarchal (his)stories, whose voices are restored in Anacaona’s paratextual practices, will serve as illustrations of feminine publishing practices that challenge (phallo-)centric models from the metropolis.
Mutatis Mutandis. Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción. Volume 13 Number 2, 2020: Mujeres y traducción en América Latina y el Caribe
https://revistas.udea.edu.co/index.php/mutatismutandis/article/view/341241The importance of translation in Additional Language Learning (ALL) cannot be overemphasized as there exists of late various studies in support of this fact. Extant studies on this issue have dealt with various aspects of translation about language learning in Europe, Canada, Australia and also in the US, although studies in this regard are not limited to these geographical boundaries. Moreover, these studies do not only focus on the impact of translation on ALL but also on various other issues like plurilingualism as it relates to translation in ALL. However, research in this regard are relatively scarce in the African context. As such, many studies done in Africa, particularly in Nigeria are limited in scope when it comes to the relevance of translation in learning German as a Foreign Language (GFL). This study therefore seeks to shed more light on how translation studies in GFL lessons in Nigeria could be useful as a weapon against “waiting room dangers”.
Journal for Translation Studies in Africa, (2), 1-17.
https://doi.org/10.38140/jtsa.2.4275Although Ikwere is a dialect of Igbo, Ikwere people deny the Igbo identity foisted on them at the turn of the 20th century by the Christian missionaries who translated the Bible into Igbo. Consequently, despite the existence of eight Bible translations in Igbo, the Ikwere produced their own Bible translations to subvert the domineering position of the Igbo Bible and index a distinct Ikwere identity. This study thus explores how the paratexts of the Ikwere Bible translations were used to frame and influence the perception of the Ikwere Bible. This opens up further questions: What topics are discussed in the paratexts? How are these topics presented to give a positive impression of the given translations as against older translations? Findings show two broad narratives in the paratexts. First, the optimism that the Ikwere Bible would engender the rise of a politically and economically viable Ikwere nation, as it supposedly did for the Igbo and other nations. Second, the argument that Ikwere is a language distinct from Igbo, a critical evaluation of which demonstrates the lapses therein. Thus, the paratexts of the Ikwere Bible are used as a site to reinforce the Ikwere people’s clamour for recognition as a distinct nation and not a part of the Igbo nation, with the Ikwere Bible as a symbol of this distinct Ikwere identity. In all, this study demonstrates that, beyond its perception among Christian faithful as the undiluted word of God, the Bible is also used to score ideological goals.
Dievenkorn, S., Levin, S. (eds) [Re]Gained in Translation II: Bibles, Histories, and Struggles for Identity. TRANSÜD. Arbeiten zur Theorie und Praxis des Übersetzens und Dolmetschens, vol 134. Frank & Timme, Berlin. https://doi.org/10.57088/978-3-7329-9175-4_12
https://doi.org/10.57088/978-3-7329-9175-4_12